India Unprepared as AI Memory Crunch Looks Set to Deepen: Micron CBO
Micron’s executive vice‑president Sumit Sadana warned that global AI‑driven memory demand far exceeds supply and could remain tight beyond 2028. The shortage is most acute for high‑bandwidth memory (HBM), a critical component for AI servers. India’s fast‑growing AI and data‑center market is especially vulnerable because local buyers are price‑sensitive and reluctant to lock in long‑term contracts. Without concrete demand commitments, Indian firms risk being left without the memory needed for sovereign AI infrastructure projects.
World Telecom Day 2026: Resilient Networks to Drive India’s Digital Future in AI Age, Say Executives
On World Telecom Day 2026, Indian telecom leaders stressed that AI‑resilient, intelligent networks are essential for the country’s rapidly expanding digital economy. Executives from COAI, the Indian Space Association, Nokia and other firms highlighted the need for robust terrestrial and...
Bharti Airtel Plans ₹28,000 Crore Share Swap
Bharti Airtel's board approved a ₹28,220 crore (≈ $3.4 billion) share‑swap with Indian Continent Investment, issuing about 146.7 million new shares to acquire ICIL's 16.31% stake in Airtel Africa. The transaction lifts Airtel's ownership in the African subsidiary to 79.04% and gives ICIL a...
Vodafone Idea Board to Weigh Fundraise Through Equity After AGR Relief
Vodafone Idea’s board will meet to evaluate a preferential equity or warrant issue after the Indian telecom regulator reduced its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability to about ₹64,046 crore (≈ $7.8 bn). The relief, combined with the return of Kumar Mangalam Birla as non‑executive...
ACC Approves Extension of Robert J Ravi’s Tenure as BSNL CMD by Six Months
India’s Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has extended Robert J. Ravi’s additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited for another six months, starting April 15, 2026. The extension follows a notable turnaround, with BSNL’s average...
Will Airtel Deliver Strong Results in Q4FY26?
Bharti Airtel is forecast to post a modest 1.5‑1.6% quarter‑on‑quarter revenue rise in Q4 FY26, even with two fewer operating days. Analysts expect the carrier to add roughly 5 million mobile broadband users and 4 million total wireless subscribers, while home broadband will gain...
Bharti Airtel Spends ₹31,000 Crore in Capex in FY25: Sunil Mittal
Bharti Airtel disclosed that it spent roughly ₹31,000 crore (about $3.7 billion) on capital expenditure in FY 25, with an additional ₹7,000 crore ($0.8 billion) coming from its tower arm, Indus Towers. The investment was highlighted at the CII Annual Business Summit by Sunil Mittal, who said the...
Consumer Complaints: TRAI Proposes to Remove Advisory Committee, Moots Stricter Penalties
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has drafted the Telecom Consumers Complaint Redressal (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, proposing to eliminate the two‑member advisory committee and replace it with a senior‑management appellate authority. The amendment mandates 24/7 complaint centres equipped with...
Airtel’s Enterprise Arm Launches DPDP Act-Compliant Security Solution
Bharti Airtel’s enterprise division has launched Airtel Secure Workforce, a zero‑trust, fully managed security platform designed to meet India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act requirements. The solution secures endpoints, devices, networks, applications and data while promising up to a...
Qualcomm to Soon Launch Data Center Solutions, Eyes Leadership Position: Akash Palkhiwala
Qualcomm announced that it will soon launch a suite of data‑center solutions and begin expanding into robotics, with detailed product reveals slated for upcoming investor meetings. The company highlighted its focus on ultra‑low‑power, high‑performance chips, leveraging multiple 2‑nanometer tape‑outs planned...
AI Models Raise Telecom Cyber Threat Concerns in India
India’s telecom sector faces heightened cyber‑risk as Anthropic’s Claude Mythos AI model could autonomously locate and exploit network vulnerabilities. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia convened emergency talks with carriers and academia, demanding action plans to harden infrastructure. Operators lack direct access to Mythos,...
Samsung Seeks to Renegotiate Supply Terms with Centre
Samsung is negotiating with the Indian government to revise public‑procurement contracts as component costs surge. The company cites higher memory and semiconductor prices, along with rupee depreciation, as drivers of tighter margins on smartphones and IT hardware. While consumer smartphone...
Reliance Eyes LEO Satellites to Build India's Answer to Starlink
Reliance Industries is exploring a multi‑billion‑dollar entry into low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) satellite communications, to be housed within its Jio Platforms unit. Six internal teams are already working on satellite design, launch logistics, payloads and user terminals, while senior executives steer the...
Bharti Airtel Explores 5G Network Slicing for Premium Plans
Bharti Airtel is piloting 5G network slicing to launch premium voice and data plans, aiming to capture higher average revenue per user. The move follows industry data suggesting slicing can boost ARPU by 20‑30%, a gap Indian telcos lag behind...
China's TCL in Talks with Local Companies to Sell 51% in Indian Plant
Chinese TV giant TCL Electronics is negotiating to sell a 51% stake in its Indian display‑manufacturing plant. The sale is priced at $600‑800 million (approximately ₹5,708‑₹7,611 crore). Potential Indian partners include Dixon Technologies, Epack Durable, Syrma SGS Technology, Amber Enterprises and Uno...
Nokia Bets Big on AI-Driven Network Infrastructure, Sees Double-Digit Growth
Nokia is pivoting from its mobile legacy to an AI‑driven network‑infrastructure business, forecasting double‑digit growth this year. The company unveiled its autonomous network fabric, a suite that blends AI, security and automation for rapid service rollout. In India, Nokia is...
Tata Electronics Aims to Be $30 Billion Business with Fab Play: CEO & MD Randhir Thakur
Tata Electronics, the Tata Group’s semiconductor arm, has surged from a ₹400 crore base to a ₹1.3 lakh crore (≈$15 bn) revenue run‑rate in four years and now aims to double that to $30 bn by 2031. The company is building India’s first fab in...
Very Excited About Indian Market, Says Apple's Tim Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors he is "over the moon" about India, where iPhone, iPad and Mac sales have risen double‑digit percentages. Apple now runs six retail stores in the country and saw Freshworks deploy more than 5,000 MacBooks,...
Brookfield’s Altius Is Said to Plan $630 Million India IPO
Brookfield Asset Management is preparing an IPO for its Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust that could raise up to $630 million, with a pre‑IPO tranche potentially adding another $360 million. The trust, which manages the largest telecom tower portfolio in India, has expanded...
Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek Expect Hit in Handset Revenues as Component Shortages Bite OEMs
Chipmakers Qualcomm, Samsung and MediaTek warned that memory‑module shortages, driven by AI data‑center demand, will depress smartphone revenues in 2026. Qualcomm expects Q2 handset revenue to fall from $6 billion to about $4.9 billion, with a bottom in Q3 before a modest...
ISM 2.0 Must Support Ecosystem Development, Says American Synopsys
Synopsys senior vice‑president Prith Banerjee urged the Indian government to treat the upcoming ISM 2.0 programme as an ecosystem initiative rather than a collection of isolated incentives. The centre plans to allocate roughly ₹1,000 crore (about $120 million) for FY27, building on the...
Iran Crisis a Wake-Up Call for India to Push Indigenous Semiconductor Design, Says L&T's Sanjay Gupta
The Iran conflict has highlighted supply‑chain fragility, prompting L&T Semiconductor’s Sanjay Gupta to call for a faster push toward indigenous chip design in India. Gupta says the short‑term impact on L&T is minimal, but the crisis underscores the need for...
DoT Commences Nationwide Trial of Mobile-Based Disaster Alert Systems
India’s Department of Telecommunications, together with the National Disaster Management Authority, has launched a nationwide trial of mobile‑based disaster alerts. The system uses the UN‑backed Common Alerting Protocol and combines SMS with Cell Broadcast technology to deliver geo‑targeted warnings across...
Tata Electronics Boosts Headcount to 75,000
Tata Electronics has expanded its Indian workforce to 75,000, surpassing Foxconn and becoming Apple’s largest contract manufacturer by headcount in the country. The surge—from roughly 15,000 employees in 2023—was fueled by rapid scaling at its 500‑acre Hosur facility to satisfy...
Jio IPO May Slip to H2 FY27 on Geopolitical Risks: CreditSights
Reliance Industries’ plan to list its digital arm Jio Platforms faces a timing setback, with CreditSights warning that the Middle East conflict could push the IPO into the second half of fiscal 2027. Earlier speculation of a May debut and...
Spam Menace: Telcos, Internet Cos Clash over Views to Regulate OTTs
India’s major telecom operators have asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to bring third‑party IP apps and over‑the‑top (OTT) communication platforms under the same anti‑spam rules that govern SMS and voice. They argue that stricter SMS regulations are...
SC Seeks Response on ₹375 Crore NICSI Tender Dispute over OneXtel Empanelment
The Supreme Court has asked NICSI to answer Karix Mobile’s challenge to a ₹375 crore (≈$45.7 million) NICSI tender awarded to rival OneXtel. Karix claims OneXtel secured the contract by presenting a falsified CMMI Level 5 certification, a mandatory eligibility criterion for the...
SC Restores SBI-Led Lenders' Rights in Reliance Infratel
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a State Bank of India‑led consortium, restoring its status as financial creditor of debt‑laden Reliance Infratel. The apex court ordered the resolution professional to reconstitute the Committee of Creditors, adding six banks and...
Trai Extends Deadline for Comments on Mobile Plan without Data at Lower Price to May 5
India’s telecom regulator TRAI has extended the comment deadline for its draft amendment to May 5, a week beyond the original April 28 cut‑off. The proposal would obligate operators to offer voice‑and‑SMS‑only mobile plans at lower prices than current bundled tariffs that...
WhatsApp Banned 9,400 Accounts Involved in Digital Arrest Scams Since January This Year: Centre to SC
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs reported that WhatsApp has disabled 9,400 accounts linked to digital arrest scams since January 2026. The action is part of a coordinated effort involving the RBI, Department of Telecommunications, telecom operators, and the CBI to...
Google AI Data Center to Position Vizag as Gateway for ‘Intelligence India’: Rakesh Bharti Mittal
Google, Adani ConneX and Bharti Airtel are jointly building a $15 billion AI‑ready data centre in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh. The facility will deliver 1 GW of capacity across 600 acres and is designed to be self‑sustainable, leveraging 400 MW of renewable power. Officials say the hub will...
RIL to Set up India’s Largest Data Centre Cluster in Andhra Pradesh
Reliance Industries announced a ₹1.6 lakh crore (~$17 billion) investment to build India’s largest data‑centre cluster in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The giga‑scale AI facility will total 1.5 GW of capacity across three phases, with a 500 MW first phase slated for commercial operation by October 2028 and...
Jio Eyes to Be Regulatory-Compliant for ‘Premium’ 5G Services: Anshuman Thakur
Reliance Jio announced that its home‑grown standalone 5G stack is ready to launch premium, SLA‑backed services, but the company will wait for full regulatory clearance before commercial rollout. The network already supports ten live slices covering enterprise, IoT, gaming, and...
TRAI Seeks Stakeholder Views on Public Wi-Fi Proliferation
India's telecom regulator TRAI has released a consultation paper seeking stakeholder feedback on expanding public Wi‑Fi. The paper follows the PM‑WANI scheme, which has installed 410,000 hotspots as of April 2026, with telecom operators contributing 55,483 hotspots and RailTel covering over...
AI-Driven RAN Has Potential, but Cost May Be a Challenge: Vodafone Idea CTO
Vodafone Idea CTO Jagbir Singh says AI‑driven radio access networks (AI‑RAN) can boost efficiency and enable edge services, but the added expense of GPUs, high‑power CPUs and fiber may limit adoption to niche scenarios. He notes that deploying such compute...
Centre Aims to Maximise Spectrum Use, Says India’s Wireless Advisor NK Bhola
India’s Department of Telecommunications appointed Naresh Kumar Bhola as its new wireless advisor on April 1 2026, pledging to maximize spectrum availability for all operators. He emphasized that efficient spectrum planning is critical to scaling connectivity and supporting the rollout of 5G, 5G‑Advanced...
TRAI Recommendations on 600MHz Band to Ease Device Ecosystem Challenges: AK Lahoti
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended extending the validity of the 600 MHz spectrum to 24 years and delaying rollout obligations for four years to ease early‑stage device‑ecosystem development. The move is part of a broader spectrum strategy...
Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani Urges Telcos to Enhance R&D Spending to Shape 6G, AI-RAN
India’s telecom sector generated roughly $45 billion in FY25, yet operators invest less than 1% of revenue in R&D, far below the 15‑25% benchmark of global equipment leaders. Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani urged the industry to boost research...
Nearly 47% of Indians Continue to Remain Offline: GSMA’s Julian Gorman
GSMA’s Asia‑Pacific head Julian Gorman warned that almost half of India’s 1.4 billion people—47 %—remain offline from mobile broadband, with women disproportionately excluded. He highlighted that the country’s digital economy is projected to hit $1 trillion by 2030, yet 5G adoption is still...
Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Lead Wireless Subscribers Additions in March: TRAI
India’s top two telecom operators, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, drove wireless subscriber growth in March 2026, pushing the total base to 1.265 billion users. Airtel added 5.09 million subscribers to reach 477.74 million, while Jio gained 3.22 million, bringing its count to 496.33 million....
Made in India Smartphone Shipments Rise 8% On-Year in 2025
India’s domestic smartphone shipments rose 8% year‑on‑year in 2025, driven by a 28% surge in exports that now represent roughly one‑third of all Indian‑made devices. Foxconn’s export volumes jumped 48%, while Tata Electronics and Samsung also posted modest export gains....
Scindia Launches Revised TDIP Scheme with ₹203 Crore Outlay to Boost Innovation
Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia unveiled a revised Technology Development and Invest Promotion (TDIP) scheme, allocating ₹203 crore (approximately $24.5 million) for 2026‑31. The program aims to boost India’s presence in global telecom standard‑setting bodies such as the ITU, 3GPP and oneM2M,...
Telcos vs OTT Apps: Trai's Spam Rules Spark Row with Airtel, Jio, Vi
India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) has drafted amendments that would bar call‑management apps such as Truecaller from tagging commercial 140 and 160‑series numbers as spam and would force them to feed user‑generated spam reports into the regulator’s Do‑Not‑Disturb registry. Leading...
SBI Moves SC Seeking Review of Spectrum Ruling, Flags Impact on Telecom Insolvencies
State Bank of India, representing lenders to the bankrupt Aircel group, has filed a petition with India’s Supreme Court to review the February 13 judgment that bars telecom spectrum from being treated as an asset in insolvency proceedings. The bank argues...
Nokia to Offload Modul8 Space Communications Business Venture
Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia has agreed with Celestial Acquisition Corp to spin out its Modul8 space‑communication venture into a standalone company. The spin‑off will be funded with $40 million of new capital to move from prototype to product, building on...
Centre to Cut ITS Officers’ Deployment in BSNL, Asks Telco to Develop Internal Talent
The Union Cabinet has ordered a phased removal of Indian Telecommunication Service (ITS) officers from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), directing the carrier to rely on its own internal cadre for senior management roles. A Department of Telecommunications letter instructs...
Omkara, Oaktree Pay ₹1,200 Crore to Buy GTL Debt From Edelweiss
Omkara Asset Reconstruction Company, partnered with Oaktree Capital Management, completed an all‑cash purchase of GTL Infrastructure's distressed debt from Edelweiss ARC for roughly ₹1,200 crore (about $145 million). The debt originated from a 2018 acquisition where Edelweiss and investors took on 90%...
Ericsson India Revenue Grows 29% to ₹4,228 Crore in March Quarter
Ericsson reported a 29% jump in India revenue to ₹4,228 crore (about $507 million) in the March‑quarter, raising its contribution to the group’s top line to 8%. The growth follows a surge in 5G equipment deliveries and network‑modernisation projects across the country....
Ashwini Vaishnaw Calls 3DGS Semiconductor Plant Foundation in Odisha a 'Historic Day
Union Minister Ashish Vaishnaw hailed the foundation‑laying of a 3D Glass Solutions semiconductor plant in Odisha as a historic milestone, underscoring the state’s shift toward high‑tech manufacturing. The project, backed by investors such as Intel and Lockheed Martin, will produce 69,600 glass‑panel substrates and...
Starlink Unable to Get Signal for India Liftoff; Faces FDI Hurdles Amid Security Concerns
Starlink’s plan to launch satellite broadband in India has hit a regulatory roadblock as the government holds its foreign direct investment (FDI) application and awaits security clearance. Concerns focus on cross‑holding ties with parent SpaceX and the risk of misuse...